The ceding of Bakassi to Cameroun through the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2002 is not over yet.Following the judgment, Green Tree Agreement or treaty of 2005 was entered between Nigeria and Cameroun under the supervision of the United Nations (UN), but the National Assembly did not ratify treaty.

In view of this, the senator representing Cross River South Senatorial, Gershom Bassey (PDP), said the issue of Bakassi is in the front burner in the Senate, as it was referred to Judiciary and Finance Committees for proper scrutiny.

Bassey, who said this while speaking with newsmen in Calabar, yesterday, stated: “The fact that the treaty ceding Bakassi was yet to be ratified by the National Assembly, and we called for that to be brought to the National Assembly for debate. So, the matter is still open.

“There was a motion, which was referred to two committees in National Assembly, where we are talking about the proper resettlement of the people of Bakassi, and that include financial issues, border issues and so on.

“We also talked about compensation in perpetuity to Cross River State and particularly the people of Bakassi, because the Nigerian state gave up their land without a plebiscite, without them being consulted and through no fault of their own. Their land was ceded.

“The issue of Bakassi is no just open, but on the front burner. The treaty has to come to the floor for debate. If it comes, then we must debate it and look at it from all its ramifications.”

He admitted that the people of Bakassi and Cross River have suffered since the ceding of the peninsular and time has come for the federal government and the international community to step in.

On the current security threat the crisis in South Western Cameroun pose to Cross River State, which is already hosting over 26,000 refugees, Bassey assured that the Federal Government and the National Assembly were handling the matter as a top security level.